The UVa women's lacrosse team was one of six Cavalier squads recognized by the NCAA for high Academic Progress Rates.

April 27, 2007

Indianapolis -
Six of Virginia's athletic programs have been honored by the NCAA with public recognition awards for their latest Academic Progress Rate scores. Those teams are men's golf, women's golf, women's lacrosse, women's soccer, softball and volleyball. To receive the award, those programs posted multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports. The NCAA is honoring more than 800 Division I teams for the achievement.

"The Athletics Department has made it clear in its mission statement and 10-year goals that we expect and value academic achievement," said Executive Associate Director of Athletics Jon Oliver. "We are truly pleased with the six programs recognized by the NCAA and their efforts should be applauded by everyone that values the concept of the student-athlete.

The public recognition awards are part of the broad Division I academic reform effort. The 839 teams receiving awards this year represent 217 Division I colleges and universities, or two-thirds of the 326 institutions that compete in NCAA Division I athletics. High-performing teams receiving awards posted APR scores ranging from 975 to a perfect 1,000 according to the NCAA.

"These teams prove once again that student-athletes are students first, and many of them are excellent students," Brand said. "I want to personally congratulate these teams and their student-athletes who are working hard in their sport and in the classroom and setting a great example for all students."

Of the teams receiving awards for their latest academic performance are 366 men's and mixed teams and 473 women's teams. The men's sports with the highest number of teams garnering public recognition are golf (51), cross country (49) and tennis (40). The women's sports with the highest number of teams receiving awards are tennis (64), volleyball (54) and golf (52).

Last year, a total of 1,048 teams were recognized. There are fewer awards this year than last year because there are fewer teams with perfect scores. The number of teams in some sports may exceed 10 percent depending on how many achieved perfect 1,000 APR scores.

Multi-year APR scores for all 6,110 Division I sports teams, including the teams receiving public recognition awards, will be announced Wednesday (May 2). The announcement also will include immediate and historical penalties for low-performing teams.